JargonBuster
Manimals
The organic blending of human and animal tissue / DNA.
Brand
An identifying mark burned on livestock or( especially in former times) criminals or slaves with a branding iron-“ the brand on a sheep identifies it as mine” synonyms: make, line, label, marque;
Agenda
Somebody who either feels they have no gender identity, or who identify not as male or female but‘ neutral.’
Aporagender
A fairly new word stemming from the Greek‘ apor’, meaning‘ separate’. Aporagender is an umbrella term meaning“ a gender separate from male, female and anything in between while still having a very strong and specific gendered feeling.” That latter part is key, then, distinguishing it from Agender.
Bigender
Relatively straightforward: a bigender person sees themselves as having two gender identities. The separate genders could both be male, or female, mixed or other – and may be felt at the same time or entirely distinctly.
Butch
Used as both a noun and an adjective, this refers to a person who identifies as masculine( either physically, mentally or emotionally). The term is occasionally used as a lesbian slur, but has been reclaimed by some gay women and turned into a affirmative label.
Cisgender
Pronounced“ siss-gender”, this refers to anybody who identifies with the same biological gender they were born with. Tentatively, then, it could be seen as the opposite of transgender.
Demigender
A catchall term for all identities that only have a partial connection to a certain gender. Demiboy and demigirl are also frequently used.
Femme
Used by and for anybody who identifies as feminine, but more commonly associated with feminine-identifying gay women.
Genderfluid
A term describing individuals for whom gender is unfixed: they fluctuate between different identities aside from their biological assignment.
Gender neutral
A synonym for‘ agender’: somebody who identifies with no gender.
Gender queer
An umbrella term covering any feelings about gender alternative to society’ s traditional expectations.
Intergender
One of the oldest( and thus often deemed outdated) terms, this is used by anybody whose gender identity is between male and female. Some believe intergender should only refer to those born with different genitals to the norm, though this is more commonly known as‘ intersex’.
Nonbinary
Fairly simply, anybody who doesn’ t identify as simply female or male.
Polygender
Identifying with several different genders either at the same time or different times. Normally the term is given to those with four or more.
Transgender / Trans
An umbrella term for any individual whose gender identity is different from what is typically associated with their assigned biological sex at birth. It should be noted that transgenderism is a gender identity and not a sexual orientation, therefore no assumptions should be made as a result. p
January- March 2018 SHARE | MAGAZINE | 27